PONTARDAWE WORKERS' .MASS…

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PONTARDAWE WORKERS' MASS MEETING. THE SPIRIT OF CAPITALISM EXPOSED *1 A meeting under the auspices of the Pontardawe Industrial Council was held at the Public Hall, on Saturday evening, and was largely attended. Ati- Tom Jeremiah presided, and was sup- ported on the platform by Messrs. Geo. Smith, Tom Maddocks, M. James, Dd. John, D. J. Thomas, David Evans, M. Jenkins, T. Duncan, G. Harry, Moses Jenkins, W. Vaughan, Chaa. Williams, Dd. Jones, R. Poole, L. W. Rees, W. Powell and W. Howells, representative of the whole of the Trade Union branches, the members of which are employed at Gilbertson's Works. The meeting was convened by the Council for the purpose of placing be- fare the public the facts relating to the present dispute at Gilbertson's Works whereby between 800 and 900 men, boys and girls are affected owing to a question of seniority arising in the galvanzing department. The Chairman in opening the meet- ing stated that the majority of the workers of Pontarda-we were idle due to a dispute between the firm and a section of the workers. On the one hand the firm claimed the right to de- cide who was to "dip" or who was to roll. On the other hand the men claimed that they had a right to de- cide. The policy of "down tools" had been adopted because the men claimed that they had a man as capable of do- ing the particular job, as the man whom the firm had put on to do the job. The meeting had been convened for the workers of Pontardawe to decide whether the galvanizers or the firm had the right to place men in certain positions in view of the fact that the men had qualified for such positions by length of se.rvise. He did not think that any organization would support a man in his claim to any particular job unless that man was capable of doing the work. Otherwise it would be too nonsensical for words to describe their attitude. He claimed that the workers' duty was to see that they had a say in the matter as well as the firm-(ioad applause). Mr Chas. Williams having reviewed the position, the Chairman called upon Mr E. Skidmore to state the case. He congratulated those responsible for the formation of the Council, and said he be- lieved that there was plenty of work for their activities. It was a move- ment that should have taken place years ago in Pontardawe. Un- fortunately, there had been through- out the whole of the employees of Messrs. Gilbertson's a lack of unanimi- ty, and there had not been manifested that spirit of brotherhood that was being shown there that evening. On behalf of the Dockers' Union branch lie wished them every success, and hoped they would go forward and as- sist in helping them to remove the dis- advantages under which they were working. THE CAUSE OF THE STRIKE. In the galvanizing department there "had been no method of promotion which the men could insist upon being carried out. There were motione upon the minute book of the branch which dealt with promotion from one position to another, but when it came to the point, if the party who claimed pro- motion was hand in hand with the "powers that are" they got promotion, and the Union could go-(round the Tliore had been no fair play or security of tenure in thr> shop. He was not going to touch upon the capabilities of the two men who vere figureheads of the present djs- )ttto he believed that either of them du!d turn out equal wcrk with the tlier providing they worked under th 1 ame conditions—(eheors). One of ;<• "1en had been engaged at the- work s "or tsoven or right years, and holdir^ ..he same position or. tho other, gei- g iome day after day with ..> I NOT A DRY GARMENT ON HIS BACK. Some of those present knew what "tanking" was, others did not. One of the men had been employed in the shop for seven or eight years, and no fault, whatever, had ever been found with his work. The other man had, a short time ago, left Pontardawe, but had been brought back by the firm, and that was a point for them as Trade Unionists to consider. A fortnight or three weeks ago the Company decided to start a small "pot," and the ques- tion as to who was to go to work it was raised. Going on to detail the circumstances which led up to the firm appointing the outsider to work the "pot" the speaker said that at a branch meeting attended by over 200 members, not a single hand was raised to support the position taken up' by the firm. The question before them was as to whether Phil Humphreys or Harding should have the job, but they must not forget the principle at stake. Mr John Bodycombe: Have the men sent a deputation to see the manage- ment? Mr W. Vaughan: We have not sent a deputation since we stopped work- ing, but we did before we stopped. The reply we received was that he would allow these two men to go on working alternate weeks, one to "dip" this week, and the other to "dip" the fol- lowing week, and they should go on "dipping" for three or four weeks, and the man who had the greatest output, and would give the best yield in metal, or "flux" or "salt" as we call it would claim seniority—(shame). Workers, you who are in the tinning department know the danger of it-two men com- peting for seniority. The result of it may be that one may have his eyes blown out, and the other his hoad blown off in their eagerness to get the greater output. You know what "flux" is, and you know it is necessary to be very careful. We refused the offer like sensible workmen would do. Such an offer was a disgrace and an insult to the men. That is the spirit they want to foster. They want the young men to compete one with the other. They want to speed things up with the re- sult that when we reach the age of 40 we are too old. We cannot follow up. That was the offer made, and we re- fused it—(cheers). Mr J. Bodycombe: The reason why I asked the question was that it had been spread about the works that the deputation accepted those conditions. Mr W. Vaughan: Understand that no deputation has any right to accept anything—(loud cheers). The question was put to me, and I said that I would convey it to the men. I conveyed the whole truth to them, and they refused it—(cheers). In reply to Mr. Geo. Smith, Mr Vaughan stated that when he arrived at the works on Monday (19 January) all the "pots" were on stop. He asked the reason, and was told that Phil Humphreys had been put on at the new "pot" in the place of Harding. It had been decided in the branch meeting on the previous Friday, and the men promised to decide by the de- cision, that Harding was to continue, but they found out that he firm in- sisted upon another course. He (the speaker) asked the foreman if he could not stop No. 8 "pot," and the other seven would continue working, but the forman replied that he had received definite orders that if that "pot" was not going on all the machines would have to stop working. He (the speaker) then asked him to take the responsi- bility of stopping the "pot," and he would guarantee that all the other men would continue working, but he refused. The following resolution was then put to the meeting, and after discus- sion was carried unanimously: "That we, tho Industrial Council, think it advisable that a joint meeting of the delegates representing the various Unions should meet tho firm of Messrs. G'lbertson in order to discuss the mat- ter in dispute. In supporting the re«o!ufion Mr Skidmore sv.d there was nat (t izQrT employed at the v.0;1 w ho T. ishod to do any act or aerl.- v. 1 would bo detrimental to the :U!: Ti-ey as employees believed that their interests were centred in the interests of the firm, and he wished he could say that the firm's interests were centred in those of the men's—(ap- plause). Undoubtedly, efforts had been mude to foment strife and enmity by placing section against action. They had heard that Mr Chas. Gilbertson had wished to put these two particu- lar men into competition one with the other, and the better man in the in- terests of the firm was to be recog- j nised as the senior man. He bad never heard of a more audacious sug- gestion in his life. It was against every principle of Trade Unionism. They wanted a bigger output! Why? So that the office boys, the pen pushers and the slave drivers would get a bigger bonus—(cheers). That was the position, and that was what they were i suffering from. Trade Unionism stood for a fair day's work for a fair day's pay. The Company knew perfectly well that if the men only allowed Phil Humphreys to remain at that "pot" they would break the backbone of Unionism in Pontardawe, and it was for them as Trade Unionists to see that it was not done. After the resolution had been de- clared as carried unanimously, the Chairman said they had heard the position put before them by men who understood the position, and were speaking the truth. It was a question which concerned not only the men in the galvanizing department, but in every other department at the works. If the move succeeded in one depart- ment, very soon it would be made in another department, and if the em- ployers succeeded in getting what they were after in the galvanizing depart- ment, they would soon extend their in- fluence to the steel works and mills and every other industry in the coun- try. The speeding-up process in the mills was damnable, and was compell- ing them to move young men in to roll on shares. The employers were seek- ing for young men because they were better equipped, because their physique. enabled them to produce more tonnage with the result that their fathers were turned on to the industrial scrap heap —(shame). The remedy was in the hands of the workers, and they were strong enough to decide if they would only become united. The Trade Union movement was the only real weapon the workers possessed by means of which they could demonstrate their strength against the capitalist. If the workers refused to toil, the capitalist would be the first to fall to the ground. When a vacancy occurred in their Trade Unions the men claimed they bad the right to put the best equipped men into the position—men who thoroughly understand the economic position. The capitalist did not elect men who had gone through every stage in any particular department to supervise. Were the men in positions of authority at the works men who had "gone through the mill?" Were they fully qualified to hold these positions ? Yet, if there was anything wrong the firm said it was due to the inefficiency of the workers, even when the elected men knew nothing about the trade. These were the "gaffers," and he would not hesitate to tell the firm that if they had pl-iced 'men in -these positions who really knew their work, then there would not be the trouble they were experiencing—(loud cheers). Referring to the South African I trouble, the Chairman said that Lord Gladstone had bungled things in this country to such an extent that the Government had sent him to South Africa, and he was making a worse mess of things out there—(loud ap- lause). Whilst there was a strike in Staffordshire, and men were fighting for a minimum wage of 23s. per week, there was also a strike on in the Trans- vaal, and the men of the Staffordshire Regiment were in Johannesburg shoot- ing down the workers, whilst their fathers were fighting for a paltry wage of 23s. per week. He appealed to those present to fight unitedly with such determination that nothing should turn them a.«ide-(app!ause). < < ¿ ——-———

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ILABOUR IN OTHER LANDSI

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LABOUR IN OTHER LANDS I THE AMERICAN WOOL AND SILK I INDUSTRY. According to the financial statistics for the year 1909, particulars of which has just been published, the number of workers in the Wool Industry (in which the wool is made up) has decreased from 1018 to 985, whilst the number of persons employed in these works has increased from 141,998 to 168,722; that is an increase of 26,724, or from 139 to 171 per concern. The number of female workers alone increased from 56,682 to 75,869. The wages paid in the year 1905 averaged 388 dollars per annum, or 7% dollars per week; in 1909 the numbers were 428 and 8t dollars respectively. The value of the produce rose from 2,098 dollars to 2,488 dollars per head of all employers. The same statistics show that the silk factories, during the period 1905 -1909 increased in uumber from 624 to 852, whilst the number of employees rose from 79,601 to 99,037, including 4,027 and 6,201 salaried officials and 45,000 and 62,000 women respectively. The number of children under 16 years of age rose from 7,366 to 13,000. 95.2 per cent. of all those employed in the slik industry are engaged in factories where the workitfig time amounts to more than 54 hours per week. The average wage of all those employed in these factories rose from 7,28 to 8.49 dollars per week, the value of the wares produced per head rose from 1,668 to 1,992 dollars. THE FRENCH LABOUR COUNCIL I I The lfrech Labour Council (Conseil Superieur du Travail), which is pre- sided over by the Labour Minister, has declared itself unanimously in favour of a Bill according to which girls under 16 years of age and youths of under 13, many only be employed in hotels and public houses, etc., when same are under the direct control of the father, mother or guardian of such juveniles. The proposition to raise the age under which females are protected by law, from 18 to 21 years, has been rejected by all the employers' and seven workers' votes. The Bill men- tioned provides among other things that- young female persons may not be called upon to wait upon the guests between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. Chambermaids must in all cases be at least 18 years old. The Labour Council further dealt with the question of the "free Satur- day afternoon," during 10 sittings. A resolution was adopted, according to which efforts should be made for the legal limitation of the working day for women and juveniles to 10 hours for the first five days of the week, closjng on Saturday at noon. As regards the male workers, the "English Week" is to be demanded for all those trades defined by the Labour Council. It would be for the organisations on both sides to decide at what time the works should close on Saturday afternoon; in case of no understanding being ar- rived at between the organisations, the matter to be decided] through the Arbitration Board. It might be of interest for the workers to know how the Labour Council is made up. This Council, which plays such a great role in the preparation and execution of labour legislation in France, is composed as follows:—19 members are chosen from the Chambers of Commerce, two from the Council of Agriculture, 21 from the Workers' Trades Unions, eight from the employers and workers re- spectively—members of the National Board of Arbitration, three from the Senate, five from the Federal Council, one from the Paris Cham ber of Com- merce, one from the Co-operative Wholesale Society, one from the Management Board of the Employment Bureaus, three members of the Uni- versity appointed by the Labour j Minister and five representatives of the Ministry. THE SYNDICALISTS' INTER- .1 NATIONAL. I The Dutch Secretariat of the oyn-:l' j calistic trades unions recently pro- nounced a verdict strongly in disfavour of the collective tariff agreement. These trades unions, to which scarcely five per cent. of the organised workers of Holland belong, are of but little im j poitance. Bill Haywood, President of the North American Syndicalists (Chicago School;, recently spent two months in Europe for the purpose of studying the conditions a.nd on accqunt of his hea'Mi. i He appears to have visited France and England only, and to have very care- fully avoided Germany—whose Labour Movement may justly lay claims to a certain importance—even as he did some years ago, when his European tour resulted in his conversion to syndicalism. This explains why he found it so easy to dispose of the modern trades union movement and political action with a wave of the hand, or with a few rough words. The syndicalistic movement (I.W.W.) of which he is the head, numbers (ac- cording to their own figures) only 70,00 members, in spite of the typical American advertising campaign under- taken by him and his colleagues, and this number can hardly be vouched for-Tom Mann, the leader of the English Syndicalist, made a lecturing tour through the United States upon the invitation of the American I.W.W. discouraging and condemning political action in its phase. Upon Gompers, the President of the Federation of Labour, taking him to account in his j paper, in conection with his a-ttrick ( upon the Federation, Mann l declared, in a rambling sort of statement, that the press reports had been fanned.. He had always advised his audience to join the organisations affiliated with. the Federation of Labour and to instil syndicalistic ideas into ?-r,7r-e. The • I.W.W. cou7d ii'1in c ? < ￼ t M a- propa g anda h>dv ?'i! ?' Fe dera- t i on. T'? ''?"'):' ny nf sugar- ■ ing the p' ?'?.. n- '•rr-rvt-r's t, 11-ifl. ?o ?. • :■' i: < • ho .si- ist secession' r.'v':cru • I CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES H The JDesDorougii tengiana) co- operative Society has purchased the whole village of Harringworth with a view to starting tli4Eii- own productive enterprises there. The valuable de- posits of iron which are thought to ex- ist there will be worked by the Society itself—The Trades' Hall Council of Melbourne (Victoria) decided upon the establishing of a Co-operative, Whole- sale, Retail and Productive Union throughout the country. According to the Regulations, members failing to purchase at least one-half of their goods from the Union may be fined 10s. per half year unless they can show good reason for purchasing elsewhere. Any member neglecting to send in his ballot paper when requested to do so is liable to a fine of 2s.6d. The Federation of the Swiss Co- operative Societies has entered into an arrangement with the greatest slaughter-house in the country, under which the Federation enters into partnership with the Slaughter-house Company, which will have the provid- ing of practically all the co-operative societies with meat, etc. Of the 2,100,000 German co-operators recorded at the beginning of the year 1913, no fewer than 1,483,811, regis- tered in 1155 societies, belonged to the Central Federation of the German Co- operative Provision Societies, which is closely bound up with the modern Lab- our movement. The societies of the Central Federation employed 22,794 persons in the year 1912. The year's turnover was 423 million, the value of the wares producer by the affiliated societies was 84 million marks. At the end of the year 1912 thore existed 2,145 co-operative societies in France, 2,980 of which societies re- ported an annual turnover of 314 mil- lion francs. 1064 of these societies supply non-members also. 34 of the societies of the railwaymen are bakery bnsinesses exclusively. The "Socialist Federation of Co-operative Societies" numbered 465 provision stores, 27 pro- duce societies and one fire insurance office, on January 1st, 1913. The total turnover of the Federation with its 146,000 members was 63 million francs. The wholesole society founded by the Federation in 1906 had a turnover of 10 million francs, and a profit of 81,000 francs. THE TRADES UNIONS AND THE LABOUR PARTY IN ENGLAND The ballots in connection with levy- ing of contributions for political pur- poses have already been taken in the case of most of the principle unions. The British Labour Party is almost entirely dependent upon the organisa- tions directly affiliated to same. The Trades Act of 1913 provides that the funds of trades unions may not be used for political purposes unless over one-half of the members agree to same by ballot; every member may claim ex- emption from the extra contribution. Ten trades unions in which the ballot has already been taken have a total membership of about 1,500,000. The aggregate result is as follows. For, 450,000; against, 310,000; not voting, 380,000. It is an extraordinary fact that ni fewer than 200,000 miners voted against, seeing that a third of the Labour Party are miners' repre- sentatives, elected by themselves, and further theat they have achieved more through legislation than any other class of worker, the legally regulated working day, the minimum wage, etc. It is to be hoped that the indifference and even hositility which is being dis- plaved in some quarters towards the Labour Party will not lead to internal friction or secession. This ballot clear- ly emphasises once more, the import- ance and necessity of thoroughly edu- cating the workers in those matters so nearly affecting them and their wel- fare, and the establishing of a soriius and powerful labour press. —————— ——————

CHAPELS AND CULTURE

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CHAPELS AND CULTURE WELSH NONCONFORMIST'S LAMENT. [ In "Y Geninen," the Welsh Nation- alist magazine, there appears a re- markable article from the pen of a well-known writer. The article is a jeremiad on what the writer declares to be "the obvious fact that the edu- cated and cultured classes in Wales are turning their backs upon the Non- conformist chapel which secured for them their educational advantages. Where men of culture remain identi- fied with Free Church activities they are the exception the rule is that the college trained youth of Wales to-day forsake the paths of their Noncon- formist parents, sever their connection with the chapel and its teaching, and disassociate themselves entirely from all religious observances and activities. The writer says that he has lived for forty years in the midst of a dense in- dustrial population and is intimately acquainted with the condition obtain- ing in every denomination, and is driven to the oonclusion that a. college career and a liberal education, as a rule, lead to practical agnosticism on the part of those who, before they entered college, were among the most active workers in the Free Churches. "To-day" adds the writer "to their everlasting credit, be it said, practic- ally all our Free Church officers are working men, while the educated and cultured classes wash their hands of everything appertaining to Christian and philanthropic work."

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THE SYNDICALIST AL- I LUREMENT."

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THE SYNDICALIST AL- LUREMENT." MR RAMSAY MACDONALD'S OPPOSI- TION There was a great gathering at Dundee when Mr. J. Ramsay Mac- donald, M.P., delivered a rousing speech on political questions of the hour. He said that the opponents of Home Rule were simply beaten poli- ticians who were trying to frighten people out of their political convictions. These politicians' social recreations were Tango teas and auction bridge, and their political pastime high treason (Cheers.) The Labour Party was not going to desert the cause of Home Rule. (Renewed cheering.) Mr. Larkin, said the speaker, ha.d done an admirable piece of work in Dublin, but his mistake lay in copying Carsoa, and Trade Unionism would not succeed by means of the sympathetic strike- Trade Unionists had got to combine, and the workers' method should be for those at work to provide supplies for them on strike. "As a matter of fact," declared Mr. Macdonakl, in ringing tones, "this Syndicalism, this allurement is another Delilah in the pay of the Philistine. It is Capitalism trying to shear the locks off the Samson of Trade Unionism. (Laughter and cheers.) ♦ •

ANTHRACITE DISTRICT SUB-AGENCY

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ANTHRACITE DISTRICT SUB-AGENCY The oountin.g of the votes in connection with the second ballot for the sub agency of tho Anthracite District took place on Tuesday at Swansea, with the following result John J. Jamee, Cwmgorse 5,677 S. 0. Davies, Great Mountain 4,155 T. P. Jones, Ystradgynlais 3,342 John Harris, Pamtyffynon 2,524 Messrs. J. J. Jam-es and S. 0. Davies will go to the final ballot.

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A meeting under the auspices of the National Service League was held at the Public Hall, Clydacli, Councillor R. A. Jones presiding, when Mr. T. G. Martin, one of the National Service League, delivered an exhaustive ad- dress to a meagre gathering.

HARD ON WORKING MEN.

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HARD ON WORKING MEN. LOSS OF TIME IN ATTENDING INSUR- ANCE MEETINGS At a meeting of the Carnarvonshire Insurance Committee Mr. Wm. George (chairman) presiding, attention was called to the hardship that would be inflicted upon working men who were members of the committee if they were not remunerated for the time lost in attending meetings of the committee and its sub-committees. Mr. R. T. Jones (secretaiy of the North Wales Quarreymen's Union) said that if working men were not compen- sated for loss of time they would not be able to attend, with the result that the work would be done by officials and a few men who would know nothing of the life of the common people. The chairman said that the commit- tee had already decided that members should be compensated for the loss of time, and had sent a communication to that effect to the Welsh Commission- ers, who had written asking for an es- timate of the cost.